The debut issue of
The Phantom from
Hermes Press was simply smashing. The gorgeous artwork by
Sal Velluto is refreshingly old-school, giving us a lush fully rendered interior which is nonetheless rock-solid storytelling.
Peter David's story begins with a nice domestic calm for "The Ghost Who Walks" and Diana Palmer, but quickly finds our hero and his best girl on the trail of the Singh Brotherhood. They go to rescue a man who knows the secret of an oddly familiar lost city named "Ophir" -- wink wink, nudge nudge.
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| Sample Pages by Sal Velluto |
We'll soon have two Phantom series by two different companies (Hermes and Dynamite) in the U.S. at the same time. Odd. There is
a dispute between the companies as to holds the rights. It calls to mind the time some years ago when
Dynamite first took hold of the rights when
Moonstone seemed still to have some at least limited access to them.
Here are the alternate covers. The artwork for these is also contained inside the issue as well as some delicious Velluto pencil work, so save your shekels.
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| Sal Velluto |
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| Graham Nolan |
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| Alex Saviuk |
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I bought my copy (copies) last week and loved the first issue. This is the best American comic book interpretation of The Phantom since the Charlton Comics run ended. I am looking forward to the rest of this series and am already lamenting that it's only a limited series.
ReplyDeleteAs far as what's going on at Dynamite, who knows. Their Phantom is now Lothar, Mandrake the Magician's assistant.
Frankly I rather like the idea of Lothar as the Phantom, at least in the non-canonical comic books from Dynamite. It gives hims something worthwhile to do other than being Mandrake's rather uncomfortable sidekick all the time.
DeleteI like classic Phantom such as we get from Hermes, but I don't mind the diversions from the classic such as the current Dynamite version.
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I'm of the mind that if you want to do something with Lothar, do something original. The Phantom is a legacy character. Unless the Phantom dies in battle saving Lothar's life and Lothar takes over until a Walker comes of age, there is no reason for this.
DeleteNice looking art by Velluto.
ReplyDeleteSal Velluto has been a rock solid artist since his start. I remember getting hold of Justice League comics just because he was drawing them. Later he did the Black Panther and was ideal. His Phantom comes across as a bit lean sometimes, but otherwise it's lush and vivid.
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I'm only familiar with Velluto from his days on the Black Panther. His art on The Phantom is a great fit.
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